Vishishtaadvaita Philosophy

The principles of the Visishtadvaita philosophy and Srivaishnava religion
are of course as ancient as the Vedas themselves, and have been handed over
by Poorvacharyas, sages and rishis, among others and to name a few..
Badyana, Tanka, Dramida, Kuhadeva, et al. The essential truths of the
darshana are indeed found summed up with sufficient clarity in the
Upanishads, the Gita and the BrammasUthras. These great sources of knowledge
(the trio- called prasthAna thrayam) form the text as it were on which all
the systems of philosophy namely Advaita, VisishtAdvaita and Dvaita were
established- and have been interpreted differently by Sankara, Sri Ramanuja
and Madhva.

Sri Sankara?s service consisted mainly in putting an end to atheism and
re-establishing the authority of Vedas and restoring them to their pristine
supremacy [though mentioned that few vedic truths were to be ignored when
violating with the other sruthi statements]. His doctrine was from a purely
idealistic point of view. He attracted many adherents to his doctrine, but
the VisishtAdvaitic school held aloof, finding his theories inconsistent and
irreconcilable with textual authority. [thanks to effrots of our acharyas]

Sri Nathamuni who has been rightly described as ?the founder of ubhaya
vedantha school and the first acharya (after NammAzhwAr] of Srivaishnavam
and after hims came his grandson Sri YamunAchArya or Alavandhar who kept the
light of our darsana glowing and growing from strength to strength, in the
example of their own lives and by their works. But it was reserved to
Bhagavadh Ramanuja the greatest thinker, to systematize the philosophy,
faithfully interpreting the ancient knowledge according to the letter and
spirit of the test, in the light of revelation and experience tested by
stern logic as well. It would be out of place to enter into the details of
his system now. He refused to subscribe to the view that Upanishads spoke in
two voices, of two levels of cognition, two brahmans and of two different
sruthis- negating each other.

Sri Ramanuja?s long life was a life of strenuous endeavour dedicated to the
exposition and elaboration of the VisishtAdvaita philosophy. His Vedaarttha
sangraha, Sri Bhashya and Gitabhashya reveal the master mind at work in a
supreme effort to reconcile the seeming differences in the Upanishad
statements and to evolve a coherent, consistent, harmonious system where the
needs of pure metaphysics and the eternal longing of the human soul meet in
happy union- and where the statements of Upanishads do not vilate each other
and co-exist. His penetrative commonsense could not accept an interpretation
which postulates two species of truths, the real and the phenomenal, the
higher and the lower. The Brahman of the Upanishads -the Sat ? the one
without a second, is none other than Sri Krishna, Sriman Narayana of Srimad
Bhagawatha and Sri Vasudeva of Pancharathra. He is the All self, the Truth
of Truths, the Creator, the Sustainer and the Master. He is the penetrating
AntarAthmA and the NiyanthA of the entire universe of soul and matter which
stands to Him in the relation of the body to the soul. He is the Home of all
the eternal virtue of which is His Sowseelyam, Sowlabhyam, and Vaathsalyam
are of special interest and value to we- the suffering souls caught up in
the samsaaric affliction. The Jiva stands in the perennial, indissoluble
relationship to the Sesha (Master- the Isawara- the Lord) who is the Sarva
Seshi- the master for everyone (other than Himself).. The eternal Bliss of
moksha is within reach of all, irrespective of sex, colour, creed, class,
caste- because Sriman Narayana- the Only One Primordial Lord- the
SarvasEshi- Sriya:Pathi has infinite mercy and compassion on us, and
prompted by the Purushaakara (recommendation) of His inseparable Divine
Constort Vishnu pathni- Sri Mahalakshmi ? and the Dhiva Dampathi is ever
ready to extend their hands to all aspiring souls without distinction, who
endeavour to Them by means of either bhakti yoga (loving, uninterrupted
meditation) or Prapatti (absolute self surrender), properly directed and
duly performed. He ? the Lord Sriya: Pathi- is the Praapya and the Praapaka,
the Rakshaka and SiddhOpaaya, the effective means and the ultimate end- all
in one. Moksha or liberation is not a mere arid negation, a sterile
cessation of dhukka of life or the barren release from the bonds of Karma
and miseries of Samsara; but is a POSITIVE, eternal, supreme Bliss of
perpetual loving presence and in the company of mukthas and Nithysasooris.
Such in brief are the lines on which Sri Ramanuja expounded from Sri Natha,
Yamuna muni?s doctrines- which were originally pointed out earlier by Sages,
Rishis and others. Ramanuja thus re established the darsana which is
associated with his illustrious name. He was not of course the founder of a
school of religion or philosophy, but only the synthetic exponent of an
ancient system, the only true system according to him, consistent with the
revealed knowledge of the Upanishads, the mystic experience of AzhwArs and
the requirements of the realistic logistic thoughts. [Some of the above
statements are from the article written by Sri KS Krishnaswamy Iyengar, in
1944